Traffic-signaling system



Dec.v 29 1925. 1,567,871

` kc. B. SITZ TRAFFIC SIGNALING SYSTEM Filed Jan. 23, 1923 2sheets-Sheet l Dec. 29, 1925. 1,567,871 C. B. SITZ TRAFFIC SIGNALINGSYSTEM attori/w1,

l Patented Dec; 29,1925. i Y

CLARA a. srrz, or

PATENT OFFICE.-

WASHINGTON, DISTBICT OF. COLUTIBIA.

TnArrIc-SIGNALNG SYSTEM.. Y

. Application illedmJanuary 33, 1928. Serial No. 614,457.`

To aZiZohom t may concean.' l

Be it known that I, CLARA B. Srrz, reslding at lVashington, in theDistrict of A Columbia, a citizen of the United States,

have. Vinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Traino-SignalingISystems, of

whichl the following is a specification. e

A Vgreat deal of concern is given and anxiety felt, especially by cityyfoiicials on account of thel ever increasing number of accidents orfatalities primarily caused byl the augmentative number of automobileson the city streets, and more particularly in the congested sections orrather street intersections. In the congested streets of'B cities,traic'oiiicers are; generally required at each intersection over`v aconsiderable' area, and.. as it is apparently physically impossible foreach oilicer to give` the slgnal forthe traino to move in the properdirection atl the same time at the several intersecting streets,confusion oftentimes results. When an alarm ofre is turned in;necessitating the lire apparatus to travel throu h the congestedtraffic, a great deal dculty is experienced by not only the firemen, butbythe traliic oicers and automobile drivers in clearing the streetssuficiently for their passage.- The speed attained by the modern reapparatus 1s such as to ordinarily cause a great deal of confusion amongautomobilists and pedestrians in an effort to seek a place of safety.Due to the city noises, the warnings of the. approaching fire apparatus,by the time .1t 1s d'istinctive to traffic 'n and ypedestrlans, renderstheir safe movements very diicult. i In an effort to overcome these andother 'Y objections, I have provided a system for automaticallyregulating movements of traic for use at street crossings, whereby anynumber of crossings or intersections areV automatically operated from acentral station, is hereinafter more fully described, each unit orsignaling tower, which is preferably located in the center of inter`secting streets, is provided with means that will permit one pair ofsignals 'to' allow the traliic to move in Aone of the streets, while theother vpair simultaneously indifcates the traic to stop in the crossstreet.

By arranging the signalin towers so 'that each intersection will be aternately set, it

will,necessita-te trac' to maintain a predeterminedor safe speed.between the interi Scting streets, forit is between the intenv upperportion thereof,

controlling` station from which secting'streets that the greatest dangerto pedestrians hes. With this arrangement, were. the motorist crossings,he would necessarily have to wait to speed up between.`r

at the next intersection until that signal propose to aecomplish byaural andA visible means.

pedestrian suicient n is to be undemuood that I. do not limit myselfmerely to the details of construction as shown,

but that the scope o'f my invention `extends`to whatever constructionlmay be defined by or included within tle terms or language of theappended claims.

In the drawings Figure 1,"is a side elevation of my signal- Figure 2,-is a view in perspective ofthe l Figure 3, is anV enlarged horizontalsection on the line 3&-3 of Figure 1, showing more clearly y theinterior arrangement of thel illuminatin head together` with a partialwiring dlagram illustrating anotherf action of my apparatus.

My invention, in ythe form or embodi- 'ment` shown in the drawings andbriefly described, comprises a plurali-ty of si naling posts 10, which,are preferably p aced in the center of intersecting streets orhighways,'and a unitary or central operating or any number of thesignaling .devices 10 are automatically operated. The signaling devicesmay be arranged in oups or zones whereby a central operatln stationwould, of course, be required or each respective zone.

The signaling devices 10 com rise' a1 tubular column 11, of lany desiredorm or configuration, a'base 12, and a head portion 13.

Referring tothe embodiment shown r in, Figures 1 to 3,' the head portion13 is sub stantially square in cross section and comp e tion ofcoloredglasses or panels 1,5, whichorm the Alighting chamber. -On the innersides of each panel is painted or otherwlse formed certain well knownindicia for regulating tralic such as Stop and Go. I prefer to-have this'lettering placed on the inner`sides ofthe glasses or anels so that itwill be visible only when t at particular signal is -given,` duringwhich period the opposite -signal would, of course, 1nvisible. The glassin the central portion of eachpanel, as indicated at 16, is preferablyleft White,or it may be colored yellow, for reasons which willhereinafter be explained. Within the head 12, Ifprovide a substantiallycrossshaped tubular member'17, preferably constructed of sheet metal forthe purpose of forming partitions whereby t-he head is formed into tiveseparate lightingl compartments. The central lighting compartment 18,comprising the interior of the cross-shaped mein er 17, extends to thecentral portions of`eaeh one of the panels 15,

and terminates' in substantially circular ends 19. I preferably form thecentral por- `much neater appearance.

.tion of the panel 14 immediately in front of and aligning with the endportions 19,

with a circular. frame or rim 20.` This not only strengthens the frame'but gives it a Thus, itgwill be seen, eachpanel is provided with threeshades or colors, such as redland green for the Stop andA Go signals andthe y central or circular signal may be yellow,`

Vor left white or clear, as desired.

By arranging the lamps or lights in the novel form, as is illustrated in`Figure 3, `but live lamps may be utilized tocarry out all ofthe desiredsignaling. A lamp 21, is placed in each corner of the lighting chamy ber13, and due to the alternating arrangement of-thecolored panels, eachofthe opposite signals, such, asred and green, are displayed at the sametime,these, of course, being-arrangedat an angle of 90, or indicating Vasignal for tratiic for both intersecting streets. At eachoppositediagonal corner the same signal, of course, is indicated lat the sametime, which may be clearly seen from the wiring diagram.

. A lamp 22, is located within the center of the lighting chamber,which, also, is the center of the `cross-shaped member 17 and furnisheslight for the centrallyblocated signals 1.6, onreach side of thedheadlportion 13.

Although I show the head portion 13, as integrally formed, it is, `ofcourse, to be i understood thatit may' be built uprof sheet metal orassembled in various wa s. To render the ysignals more plainly. yislble,the glassmay be ribbed or roughened, as desired, and reflectors' (notshown) may be utilized.

Immediately above the head portion 13.

portion 23, I provide suitable means for supporting and mounting an'enlarged globe 24, which lis preferably' formed `of white frosted glass.Within ,the globe 24, I suit `ably mount a red light or bulb 25, and aclear light 26.

Below the head portion`13, provide a compartment with openings 27,through outer sides in the form of a ventilator or louver, lfor thepurpose of housing a suit` able audible signal device 28. The openings27 are, of course, of suilicient size to render the audible signaldevice 28 clearly and distinctly Vheard above the city noises 'whichwillenable trailic to seek shelter, as inthe case. of an alarm of lire,or for theclear passage of ambulances. y

As is illustrated in the several views of the accompanying drawings, thelead, wire 38, is grounded to theswitch operatin device 29, and passesto the negative si e of the battery B, the positive lead wire 39 .havin.connection with and feeding the sevl eral e ectrical devices.

Fp ordinary traiic signaling purposes my improved system operates, bythe electrical energy passing through the lead wire 39, thepivotedswitch member 40, and the wire 41, through one of thediametrically opposite pairsy of lamps 21, returning through the wire42, connected with the contacting member 34,`from which it is conductedthrough the negative terminal of the battery B by means of the disc 30.

When an alarm of re is turned in and the passage or route of theapparatusl has been ascertained, it maybe found desirable to clearcertain intersections of heavy traic,iwhereupon a switch or key 46,which is provided for each intersection, is thrown into contact.

T Referring now to Figure 3, `the current from'the local battery bpasses through the wire 47, to the solenoid 48, thence returning to thebattery. by means of the wire 49.

When the solenoid y-48 has been energized the pivoted switch blades, 40and50, arel thrown, which now permits the current from the battery B topass through the switch 40,y and be-conducted along the wires 51 and'52, returning through the wires, 53 and 54, tllence to the battery Bfby' means of the wire Iclaim: 1. In a tratlic signal, a casing having aplurality of sides, a plurality of compartments, one at each corner ofthe casing, each gsides and a lamp orrendering said indicia visible.

l2. A traffic signal comprising a casing having four sides, a plural'itments one at each corner of t e casing, each '10 including a portion oftwo of said sides and containing stop indicia on one of said sides andgo indicia on the adjacent side, and

of compartimeans fol-rendering said indicia visible, and a centralcross-shaped compartment termina-ting in openings on each side .of the15 compartmentand arranged between adjacent. pairs of said first namedcompartments andcontaining trahie-change indicia' in each of said oenings and means for rendering said indicla visible.' In .testimonywhereof I hereunto affix m signature.

LBA B. SITZ.

